I realized while reading this that I have never listened to any of Dolly Parton's songs. I don't know her music at all. Part of that is that I have never listened to much country music, but part of that is that she isn't played on the radio at all any more. These essays have a lot of speculation about why that is (country music radio stations don't play almost any women any more, for one), but they are kind of like a biography and analysis of Dolly Parton's life and heritage and her activism, although it's not the outright kind. I have seen how Dolly Parton has become everyone's favorite celebrity because of her generosity and her donations to charity, and after reading this book, I can see why. She seems almost anti-feminist at first, with her plastic surgeries and over-the-top appearance, but I love how Smarsh describes her "gender performance" and how her emphasis of her appearance has allowed her to stop people in their tracks, forcing them to judge her at face value, underestimating her before she can wipe them out. I really like her and I'm totally interested in reading her autobiography now.
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